


Paper Love

by Thealmostrhetoricalquestion



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Library, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Libraries, M/M, Origami, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 07:05:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14443992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thealmostrhetoricalquestion/pseuds/Thealmostrhetoricalquestion
Summary: Alec was well aware that he was being creepy. He was well aware that the sight of a tall, built man in all black, standing near the kids section of the local library without a child would send a thrill of suspicion through most people’s minds. He was well aware that he hadn’t turned a page of the cookbook in his hands in the past ten minutes, and he was well aware that he was outright staring.He was aware of all of this, and yet he couldn’t seem to stopdoingany of it, and quite frankly, it was all Magnus Bane’s fault.





	Paper Love

**Author's Note:**

> Ignoring the angst in the show leads to digging up old fluffy pieces and editing them and doing this! So here you go! I have more of this tucked away, so I may add to it. If anyone has any extra things they'd like to see, feel free to tell me and I'll work it in somehow! Thanks so much!

Alec was well aware that he was being creepy. He was well aware that the sight of a tall, built man in all black, standing near the kids section of the local library, without a child would send a thrill of suspicion through most people’s minds. He was well aware that he hadn’t turned a page of the cookbook in his hands in the past ten minutes, and he was well aware that he was outright staring. 

He was aware of all of this, and yet he couldn’t seem to stop _doing_ any of it, and quite frankly, it was all Magnus Bane’s fault. 

Alec only knew his name because Magnus had introduced himself before he started reading, and Alec had only caught that because he had been watching Magnus attentively ever since he stepped inside the library. A bit like a hawk, terrifying and intense. 

Izzy often told him he had all the subtlety of a gnat, which Alec thought was unfair, if only because gnats weren’t known for anything in particular, besides using your drink as a bath on a warm summer’s day. But he couldn’t deny that he hadn’t been particularly subtle as he watched Magnus stride across the library on light footsteps and settle himself onto the beanbags in the children’s section. Alec had never seen anyone treat a beanbag like it was a throne, but here they were. 

Magnus dressed far too elegantly for a rainy day in Brooklyn, Alec thought. His velvet uniform jacket was decorated with sprigs of gold embroidery, and his trousers fit him tightly, wrapping around sinuous legs and giving Alec a decent view that he felt guilty about, considering there were children present. 

It was the children that Magnus was reading to, and that, combined with the smooth, soft sound of his voice was enough to send Alec into a bit of a spiral. He was picturing wedding suits when someone coughed at his elbow, and he jumped, arms jerking wildly. 

Catarina Loss watched him flail without mercy. “Lightwood, any reason why you’re lurking?”

Alec wasn’t used to being startled. He was usually very aware of his surroundings, and he even taught a self-defence class down at the gym every Tuesday. One of the main lessons was to always be aware of who was around you, and yet Catarina could probably have stolen his belt and put a fedora on his head and he wouldn’t have noticed. 

“I was just…” Alec trailed off, glancing at Magnus before hurriedly putting the book back on the shelf. He had picked it up at random and opened it to the middle when Magnus started reading, and the book had instantly been forgotten in favour of that velvety voice. 

“Oh, don't stop being creepy on my account,” Catarina said. Her eyes gleamed as they flicked between Alec and Magnus, who still hadn’t noticed the attention. “I can introduce you, if you like? He’s a friend of mine.”

Alec shot her a panicked glance, and she relented with a chuckle. 

“I take it that’s a no. At least stay and say hello to Madzie. She’s been asking for more of your pasta, that linguini you made? Except she calls it Luigi, like the green guy from that game.”

Alec grinned. He hadn’t even noticed Madzie in the crowd of children, too entranced by Magnus, but if he craned his neck, he thought he could see her through the field of tiny heads. Her braids were decorated with little red ribbons today, and she was watching Magnus just as hawkishly as Alec had been. 

"Does she know Magnus?"

"She's my niece, and he's my best friend that practically lives in my fridge," Catarina said, rolling her eyes. "I'd say they know each other well enough." 

Alec mused on this for a moment before remembering Catarina's question. “Yeah, I’ll stay. Help me choose a new book?”

“I have customers, Lightwood.” Catarina thwacked him lightly on the shoulder, but didn’t complain further. She dragged the trolley of books that needed to be re-shelved over to her and started directing Alec through the shelves before she deigned to help him find a new recipe book. 

They settled on another Italian cookbook, one that Alec had seen last week but bypassed in favour of English recipes, seeking something a little simpler. 

“I’ll get some more cookbooks in for next week, seeking as you’re working your way through pretty much our whole stock. Not sure what they’ll have, but I can look.”

“Thanks, Catarina. You know I appreciate the help.”

He _did_ appreciate it, more than he let on. Catarina knew his secret, which wasn’t so much a secret as it was something he didn’t talk about. 

He _could_ read, just not very well. The letters liked to dance and crawl across the pages, and he could mostly decipher the words if he tried for long enough, but for the most part that just gave him a headache. Not many people had picked up on it, considering he was home-schooled, and the tutors that did were quickly dismissed. 

Robert, his father, hadn’t believed in labels for things like that, and Alec had no doubt that he was his father’s greatest shame. His mother was a little more lenient, and disapproved more of the whole being gay thing than she did of the reading thing. It wasn’t until he moved out, at the age of twenty-two, that he got a name for it: dyslexia. 

It wasn’t a mind-blowing moment. It wasn’t even an uncommon problem. He’d known something was wrong, and now he had a name for it, but the time for receiving help with schoolwork was long gone, and Alec was an adult now. Everything he had learned, he had learned without assistance, and now he had his own cooking blog and earned a decent amount making food for busy rich people. He hadn’t let it stop him. 

It was baffling, the amount people would pay for a home-cooked meal every evening. He didn’t quite consider himself a chef, but he hoped to one day. 

The next ten minutes passed in casual silence, barring the sound of Magnus’s voice. It wasn’t noise; it was music that Alec could quickly get addicted to. He read the words on the page with infinite gentleness, and if Alec were to liken it to food, as he often did with things he felt strongly about, he would compare it to rich, delicate desserts, full of chocolate and deliciousness. 

His stomach rumbled loudly, and two kids at the back of the crowd craned their necks. Alec blushed and made a bid for the main desk, where Catarina was fiddling with a pile of files, phone hooked under one ear. 

“Yes, I completely understand ma’am, but the fact remains that you’ve had those books for about three months now.” 

Alec grimaced at her. She was too dignified to pull a face in return, but she did mime throttling someone invisible in front of her. 

“Yes, I’m sure it is hard to grasp anatomy in just a couple of months, but you need to bring the books in at the end of each fortnight to get them checked out again, otherwise we have to charge you.” 

Alec picked up a post-it note and started folding it carefully. He knew how to make several shapes, including a hat, a boat, a star and a flower, and he had absolutely no idea why he had bothered to retain this useless information, but it was in his brain, so he might as well use it. He focused on a flower, thinking Madzie would like it, and he was proved correct when she came running over at the end of the reading session, a big smile on her face, and barrelled into his legs. 

“Alec!” Madzie pulled on his jeans until Alec lifted her up, putting a finger to his lips. 

“Shh, little sorceress. You can’t shout in the library.”

He handed her the flower to soften the reprimand, and she lit up like a firework display. She wasn’t much of a talker, only speaking around those she was comfortable with, so Alec hated to ask her to quiet down. 

“You like it?” he asked, and she nodded, smiling shyly again. Alec felt his heart grow warm at the sight. 

“And who is this handsome man you’ve found, sweetpea?”

Alec turned red at the voice instantly. He had a feeling that was going to be a bit of a problem in the future. 

Madzie twisted in Alec’s arms to grin at Magnus, who had arrived while they were talking and was now leaning against the desk, arms crossed and hip cocked. Somehow, it looked smooth and self-assured, rather than arrogant and aloof. 

“Alec,” Madzie said, in a stage-whisper, prodding Alec in the collarbone. Magnus smiled quite brightly at her, his eyes full of adoration, and Alec felt fine about letting her clamber down him and fling herself at Magnus instead. He watched as Magnus lifted her easily, settling her on his hip, and hugged her tightly. His eyes flicked to Alec when Madzie proffered the red flower and whispered something in his ear. 

“Alec made it?” Magnus looked rather like the cat who’d caught the cream. “Handsome and talented.”

“It’s just a flower,” Alec said, but he was grinning in return. He felt strangely fuzzy inside, like he’d had a little too much to drink, only this wasn’t as unpleasant as the only time that had happened. 

“If you’re going to flirt,” Catarina hissed, putting a hand over the phone, “do it somewhere else. Somewhere you can be loud without disturbing everyone.”

“There’s three people here,” Alec deadpanned. Magnus coughed a laugh, and Catarina’s mutinous glare flicked between the two of them, like she couldn’t decide who to despise more. 

“Catarina, dearest, why are you blocking my attempts at a burgeoning romance?” Magnus said, leaning even further over the desk. Madzie curled a lock of his hair around her finger and tugged on it curiously. Alec had a suspicion that he wouldn’t allow that from anyone else, but he was too busy being slightly flustered by Magnus’s words to be truly charmed by this. 

“Burgeon your romance elsewhere, Bane,” Catarina whispered furiously. “There’s a coffee shop down the street, both of you take Madzie and get her a muffin or something.”

Magnus arched an eyebrow at her. “I’m sorry, did I not just take an hour out of my day to read to small children at your request?”

Catarina sighed, shifting the phone even further away. “I love you, Magnus. Please go away.”

Alec stuttered something about needing to get home, but the combination of Madzie’s pout and Magnus’s pleased grin sent him into silence. He picked his book up and held the door open for both of them, and turned roughly the same colour as a fire truck when Madzie grabbed one of their hands each and swung them as they walked.

It was a little strange, to be spiriting and unrelated child across the street with a practical stranger, but Madzie seemed at home with both of them, and Magnus was gazing at him curiously as they crossed the water-logged street. 

Madzie unbundled herself from her red raincoat as they pushed into the cafe, shaking water out of her braids. She took the lead, ducking past a couple and sliding into a seat at the far end of the cafe, her coat folded beneath her to give her a little extra height. 

“So what do you fancy, little sorceress?” Alec asked, as he folded himself into the chair beside Madzie. Magnus shed his coat and ran his fingers through his hair, leaving Alec a little dry-mouthed. 

“Little sorceress?” Magnus asked, a quizzical look on his face. 

“Oh,” Alec said. “She found me at Catarina’s Halloween party, and she was the best dressed sorceress around.”

Magnus looked startled. “I’m surprised I didn’t meet you there. I usually plan all of Catarina’s parties for her. I am an infinitely better host.”

He sat down with a wink, and Alec grinned at him. Madzie slapped a menu down on the table and jolted them apart, and she pointed a finger at a picture of a drink with stubborn determination. Alec fished out his wallet, but Magnus was already standing up. 

“Allow me to choose your drink? They do wonderful things here, if you know what to ask for,” Magnus said, a little lilt to his voice that made Alec lean forward, thoroughly interested. He seemed to be doing an awful lot of leaning and smiling today. 

“Yeah, sure,” Alec said, a little dazed by the soft look in Magnus’s eyes. “I’ll get the next one.”

He cringed back horribly at his own bold words, but Magnus simply gave him a bright grin and strolled off to join the queue. Alec would have been content to sit and stare, but a tiny cough interrupted him, and he turned to find an equally tiny person levelling a judgemental stare at him. 

“What?” he asked, and Madzie shook her head. The table came with a set of crayons and drawing paper, to keep kids entertained, and she pushed the pad of purple paper towards Alec. When he raised an eyebrow at her, she pointed at her own flower, which was tucked in the pocket of her cardigan, and then at the paper in front of them. 

“For Magnus,” she whispered, and Alec got the hint. 

The queue was quite long, and Alec worked quite quickly. By the time Magnus returned with three drinks on a tray, all evidence of their work had been hastily hidden away in Alec’s pocket. 

Madzie dragged her drink towards her immediately and began to gulp through the pink-and-white striped straw. 

“Slow down, sweet-pea, or you’ll give yourself a stomach ache,” Magnus said. He handed Alec his drink with a blank face, and Alec stared at it. It was stuffed with whipped cream, and full of (hopefully) edible glitter. The pink liquid inside was warm when he put his hands around the plastic cup. 

“What is this?” Alec asked flatly, barely a question. Magnus’s eyes danced as he sipped his own drink. 

“Delicious,” Madzie said firmly, and that was the end of that argument. 

Magnus didn’t bother to hide his laugh as Alec drank from the cup, and Alec couldn’t help but think his laugh was just as pretty as his reading voice. 

“Not bad,” Alec said, when he finished sipping. “Definitely needs more glitter, though.”

Madzie nodded in agreement, and then started to colour in a picture of a ladybird, sipping intermittently. 

“You were saying about the Halloween party,” Alec prompted, when he and Magnus fell into silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but Alec really, really wanted to hear Magnus talk. 

“I was, wasn’t I? Which Halloween party was it?” 

“Uh, last year, so not too long ago.” Alec thought back to that party, and he couldn’t remember seeing Magnus there. He definitely would have remembered someone like him, regardless of how dressed up he was. 

“Ah,” Magnus said, grimacing slightly. “Yes, I spent most of that party in one of the bedrooms, breaking up with my now ex-girlfriend.”

Alec had never experienced this kind of sinking feeling before. He had been so sure that Magnus was flirting with him. Magnus must have caught something in his face, because he grinned slightly. 

“My ex-girlfriend who is equally as bisexual as I am,” Magnus said gently. Alec released a huge breath. He felt a rush of embarrassment at having assumed, and then a wave of relief. He smiled back a little shakily and gulped his drink for something to do. 

“Easy mistake to make,” Magnus assured him, when Alec apologised quietly. “Now, I know why I was in the library - Catarina bribed me with a BLT if I came in to replace the usual reader, but I don't know why you were lurking in the cooking section.”

Alec blushed slightly. He had hoped Magnus hadn’t noticed, but to be fair, Alec had been boring a hole through his head with his eyes, so it wasn’t surprising that Magnus had spotted him.

“I, uh, I run a cooking blog,” Alec said. “I have - I have dyslexia, so it makes it kind of hard to read recipes easily, and I’d make a lot of mistakes. But I always liked cooking, and I didn’t want to let it stop me, so I just... I made a blog about it all, and it just kind of spiralled, and now I make videos and recipes and try to find ways to present it so that other people who have trouble reading can still cook a little easier.”

Magnus looked a little stunned when he finished speaking. Alec didn’t always like telling people he had dyslexia, because even though he didn’t think it was that big of a deal, other people always seemed to assume that he was stupid because of it, or that he couldn’t read at all. But Magnus seemed nice enough, and pretty non-judgemental, and if not, he wasn’t really the type of person Alec wanted to get to know. 

But Magnus was that type of person, apparently, because he just smiled and said, “That’s brilliant, Alexander. Truly brilliant. Oh, you don't mind the name, do you?”

“No, it’s nice,” Alec said. “I mean, not nice, it’s my name. I just - like how you say it. Or something. _Jesus._ ” 

Magnus laughed unabashedly, and Alec didn’t feel quite as embarassed in the face of it. 

“I’ve finished,” Madzie announced quietly, pushing her empty cup forward. She scrambled down from her chair and started putting her coat on, and Magnus laughed again at Alec’s baffled look. 

“I guess that’s our cue, then,” Magnus said, standing up. “It’s a shame. I was rather enjoying talking to you.”

“Me too,” Alec said. He stood up too and let Madzie clasp his hand, and then he mustered up some courage and said, “We could always… we could always do it again? Without little ears listening in?”

Magnus’s answering grin was brilliant and send a flood of warmth through Alec. “I’d love that. I’ll give you my number when we get back to the library, and we can annoy Catarina by checking it works right by the main desk. I always have fabulously loud, obnoxious ringtones.”

Alec snorted. “I don't doubt it.”

Madzie tugged on Alec’s hand until he bent down. She whispered in his ear, “The flowers.”

Alec groaned internally. The flowers seemed a bit much now that Magnus had agreed to see him again, but there wasn’t much he could do, not with Madzie’s expectant gaze on him. He clamped down on his nervousness and steeled himself. 

“Before we go,” Alec said, fidgeting nervously as he hooked a finger in the fabric of Magnus’s coat, pulling him out of the way of a horde of tired students. “I have something for you.”

“Oh?” Magnus looked intrigued, and then his expression melted as Alec pulled a bouquet of paper flowers out of his pocket carefully. He presented them to Magnus, trying his best to ignore the slightly crumpled edges and the deflated napkin wrapped around the stems. Magnus took them with, unless Alec was mistaken, a slight blush on his dark cheeks. 

“They don't have a scent, I’m afraid,” Alec said. “That’s a little beyond me. But at least you won’t have to try very hard to press them, you know, if you wanted to keep them.”

Madzie swung Alec’s hand happily, and Magnus glanced between them with a soft, warm smile before lifting the paper bouquet to his chest. 

“Oh, Alexander. I think I’ll definitely be keeping them.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh! I hope you enjoyed the cavity-inducing sweetness! Thank you so much, please leave a comment or a kudos and let me know what you thought. @thealmostrhetoricalquestion on tumblr. Thank you!


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